


Homecomings

by miera



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Episode Related, Established Relationship, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-04-13
Updated: 2008-04-13
Packaged: 2017-10-14 07:34:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/146907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miera/pseuds/miera
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Episode coda for "Aurora."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Homecomings

**Author's Note:**

> For the **notjustclosets** ficathon for "Aurora."

Elizabeth was curled up in bed, for once reading something that wasn't work-related. Her little verbal stumble with Ronon the other day plus the power struggles with Steven Caldwell suggested to her she needed to maybe relax a little more and get some real sleep occasionally. She was rereading "Persuasion" for the umpteenth time when her door opened and John wandered in without knocking. "Did you know I have rakish hair?"

It was late now and he'd been tired after the trip and the Ancient virtual reality and the close call with the Wraith. She had assumed he'd gone to bed hours ago, having not seen him since early evening in her office. But here he was, in his black fleece pullover and sweatpants, looking worn out and slightly tense.

She raised an eyebrow. "According to who?"

"Rodney."

"You know, sometimes his descriptions of you are a little adoring for just buddies," she teased.

"Ew." John's face scrunched up. "Please don't go there."

She chuckled to herself, putting her book away and sitting up in the bed. John was meandering around her quarters, hands stuffed in his pockets. One did not have to be an accomplished negotiator and observer of human nature to realize something was bothering him, but Elizabeth also had quite a bit of experience dealing with the moods of one Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard. She settled the blanket over her lap and waited.

"Thanks, by the way," he said at length, breaking the silence. "For helping with the thing before."

She shrugged. It had been an extremely small request, a moment taken out of their day to pay tribute to the crew of the Aurora. Compared to the type of things people asked her for on a regular basis, it had been miniscule. And John had clearly needed to do it.

His lips twitched. "Was that shrug because it was no big deal or because you're not sure what I'm talking about?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and decided it was too chilly in her short-sleeved shirt to be out from under the blankets. She stretched out on her side, facing him, pulling the sheet up to her shoulder. "I was glad we could at least do that much for them."

John came over and sat down on the edge of the bed, Elizabeth shifting back to give him room. He leaned his elbows on his knees, hands clasped loosely, not looking at her. "I just keep thinking about him. The captain. And all of them."

Elizabeth ran a hand up and down his back soothingly. The fleece was soft under her fingers. It was rare for John to talk to anyone about how he was feeling. If anyone tried to _get_ him to talk, it usually required a crowbar. Every once in a while, though, if it was of his own volition, he would open up just a little. Elizabeth had long ago given up pretending that she wasn't inordinately proud it was usually _her_ that he sought out when he was in this kind of mood.

"They waited so long. And all they wanted was to get home. To get back here." He looked around, as if he could see through the walls and ceiling and take in the rest of the city.

"I know," she said lowly. She did know how that felt, the longing to be where she belonged again, even if her separation had been only a matter of months, not millenia.

John glanced at her and she knew he knew the feeling too. He looked down at his hands again. "He was a good captain," John told her. "When he finally understood the truth, all he was thinking about was his crew, how they were never going to get to go home."

She sighed, her palm circling over his lower back. "Ten thousand years."

"I can't imagine making it that far and then..." John bit his lower lip and Elizabeth understood.

There was a lot about her relationship with John that operated on a different level than she was used to. With most people she could study them briefly and figure them out by observation, but with John, it was almost all instinct and flashes of insight she couldn't predict or control. She sat up. "It wasn't a waste, John. We learned that the Wraith have a weakness, we know more about the Ancients and their technology, and the Aurora didn't let herself fall into enemy hands. That's not a failure."

He nodded, but he didn't look convinced. Elizabeth's hand slid up his spine to the nape of his neck, her fingers and nails stroking lightly over his skin and through his hair. John's eyes closed and his head fell forward.

"It was hard," he told her quietly. "Seeing their faces, having to tell them."

"I know," she said again, still playing with his hair. He liked it when she touched him like this, although that was something he'd probably never admit out loud. For someone who could get impossibly stiff and awkward when anyone touched him, Elizabeth thought John was sometimes as desperate as she was for the comfort of simple physical contact with another person. He just couldn't bring himself to ask for it, any more than she could. Maybe that was why they only did this with each other.

Another silence ensued for a few minutes. Elizabeth dragged her nails over his scalp. She saw the goose bumps break out on his skin and John craned his neck to look at her. "I should probably let you get back to your book," he said, but his eyes were on her lips.

She tugged him closer. "I've read it before."

Their lips met in a slow kiss, John being unusually gentle with her. Of course, they mostly did this either in a hurry before something could call one of them away or out of desperation because one or both of them almost died. This was a different sort of desperation, though. John could go through multiple near-death experiences and come out more or less unfazed, but he hated watching other people suffer, especially when he was powerless to do anything to fix it.

She let him control the kiss and press her backwards onto the bed. His lips left hers and moved down her throat and he lingered over her pulse for a long moment, drawing shivers from Elizabeth that had nothing to do with the chill in the room. Finally he pulled away and unzipped the jacket and took it off. He was wearing one of his customary black t-shirts underneath and that got stripped away as well. He urged her to pull her own shirt off and tugged the blankets down so he could reach her body. When her nipples tightened from the cool air she made a little noise and John settled over her again.

His palm covered her breast, kneading gently while he kissed her stomach and moved up along her abdomen. His thumb rubbed the hard tip and made her twitch, and she got a glimpse of his smirk. His hand mounded her breast up and his mouth covered her completely, then withdrew slowly until his lips grazed her nipple.

Her hands dug into his shoulders as his breath blew over her wet skin and she groaned, "God, do that again."

He obliged her, focusing his attention on her other breast, going back and forth until she was no longer aware of the cold air or anything but the ache low in her body. Her feet struggled to get free of the blankets, kicking against his calf in the process.

That finally got his attention and he drew away, laughing at her. She didn't really mind, since John grinning down at her with his hair mussed from her fingers and heat in his eyes was infinitely preferable to the melancholy colonel who had invaded her room a while ago. He kicked off his sneakers and got rid of the rest of his clothes while Elizabeth wriggled around on the bed, freeing herself from the blankets and her flannel pants and underwear.

When they were both naked, John's hands skimmed up her legs. He'd told her more than once she had great legs, and expressed his appreciation for that part of her body in a variety of ways. His palm smoothed up the inside of her thigh as he stretched out on the bed alongside her. Elizabeth shifted, her legs parting and her hips pushing towards his hand as his fingers rested at the apex of her thighs, urging him to take the next step.

But John brought his hand to his mouth first and she swallowed hard. He licked his index finger before pushing his hand back between her legs. When his finger slid easily over her clit, Elizabeth's eyes closed. She forgot to think about his state of mind or anything else but the warmth of his body against her side, the feeling of his breath over her bare skin as he kissed her neck and her breasts, and the languorous teasing of his fingers.

He built her up slowly, his mouth often leaving her skin so he could watch her as her body began to quiver with need. Heat flushed through her, a blush crawling over her neck and her face as she got closer to coming. Elizabeth had one hand fisted in the blankets, and the other again holding the nape of his neck. She wanted to look back at him, to see him watching her avidly, but her eyes wouldn't stay focused or even open. Her knees fell farther apart, one leg hooking over John's as she tried to push her body harder into his light, circling touch. It didn't work. He just kept teasing her relentlessly until it became too much to bear.

Elizabeth let out a little cry when the orgasm hit her. She shuddered as John drew it out, fingers still moving. He leaned over and kissed her and she realized dimly that he'd figured out kissing her right then would prolong the release. She kissed him back hungrily, although the desperate gasping for air made things a bit sloppy.

Finally all the tension went out of her and she sank back into the mattress. John's hand stilled, though it remained between her legs. He nuzzled her neck again, letting her rest for a minute before he moved to cover her with his body.

She was too loose and relaxed, she knew, to come again, but it felt good when he pushed inside of her. Just the sense of connection and, yes, the pleasure of the contact was enough right then. She urged him to move, her fingernails trailing down his back. She arched up and kissed his neck, his collarbone. She fondled his ass playfully, making John groan and start moving faster. When her teeth nibbled on his ear his fingers dug into her hip, holding her steady so he could take her harder. She heard the little noise he always made when he got close and she tightened her body as much as she could around him.

John's hand slid under her, tilting her hips up a little and it only took a few more moments before he shuddered and then stilled, his face buried in her shoulder, his chest pressing against hers as he panted.

For the third time, Elizabeth caressed his neck, letting her fingers tunnel through the soft strands of hair. They stayed like that for a little bit longer before John pulled away enough to drop onto the bed.

His fingers brushed against her lips, and she answered the question in his sleepy eyes by kissing his fingertips. Together they pulled the blankets back up and Elizabeth never even thought of objecting to him settling in for the night. She curled into his body, enjoying the warmth and the way the whole bed now smelled of them both.

John yawned once before he burrowed into the pillow and fell asleep. Elizabeth watched him for a moment, imprinting his relaxed face on her memory. She thought about the Aurora again, and also about the people in Atlantis who had been waiting for the ship, the family members who had been left behind in the city who never knew what had become of their loved ones. And she thought of all the long hours of waiting for John and his team to come back from some death-defying escapade or even a simple mission of exploration. All the times she'd paced the balcony or her office because they were lost somewhere out there and she didn't know where they were or when they would come home.

Elizabeth leaned forward and brushed a kiss across his cheek. John shifted towards her, mumbling, but his eyes didn't open. She reached behind her and switched off the light.


End file.
